Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been portrayed as a fringe candidate, but he has gained momentum in the Democratic primary at an astonishing pace. Less than two months after announcing his candidacy, he’s already nabbed 20% support among Democrats compared to Biden’s 60%.
While his path to victory still looks narrow, over the last week reports suggest that RFK Jr., 69, could stand a chance of winning the first two primary races against President Biden.
On The Money spoke with RFK Jr. about some of his most controversial comments, including whether he’s an anti-vaxxer, why bitcoin is critical to his economic agenda, and why addressing the threat of artificial intelligence would be a top priority as president.
Lydia: The world is about soundbites and the soundbite is you are an anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist.
RFK Jr: I am not and have never been anti-vaccine. I’ve always said that I’m for safe vaccines and robust science and for regulatory agencies that are free from conflicts of interest and financial entanglements with the pharmaceutical industry. In terms of being a conspiracy theorist, tell me where I got it wrong. Show me something I’ve said that you believe to be factually wrong or unsupported by evidence.
Lydia: You’ve generated a lot of interest from the business and tech community. What policies do you think they find most attractive?
RFK Jr.: I’ve been critical of the tech industry, particularly social media platforms for cooperating with the government in censoring Americans. What I’m now finding among the tech industry leaders is a deep resentment of the government for pressuring them to cooperate in that un-American enterprise. Many want to see technology live up to the idealistic promises about the potential to democratize communications globally. They are appalled that these technologies instead have been exploited as instruments of totalitarian control.
Lydia: In what other ways are you aligned with the tech community?
RFK Jr.: I like Elon Musk because he supports freedom of speech. Most tech leaders feel that press freedom is absolutely critical if America is to live up to her idealistic promises. Freedom of speech and the free flow of information liberate entrepreneurial energies. I have an almost libertarian belief that the more freedom we have, the more opportunities we can create..
The other major issue for them is figuring out ways to regulate AI technologies globally. Elon has said that AI will first take our jobs and then it will kill us. This is not hyperbole. Technology leaders understand the frightening dangers of AI — including its capacity to control narratives, create illusions, surveil our activities to dictate our behaviors and enforce compliance, and ultimately enslave humanity.
Lydia: Do you think Joe Biden is too old or not lucid enough to run for president?
RFK Jr.: That is for other people to determine. I don’t have any special insight into his mental capabilities. I really haven’t seen enough of him to make that assessment.
Lydia: Your comments linking atrazine and transgender individuals have come under scrutiny – what did you mean by that? More generally, do you think a discussion about something like that is a distraction to your overall message?
RFK Jr.: What I said was misinterpreted. I simply pointed out that male frogs exposed to low levels of atrazine become female and produce viable eggs and that atrazine is now in most American water supplies. I’ve argued for many years that we should talk about the impact of endocrine disruptors on human health and behavior. All I said is it should be studied. If anybody says we shouldn’t look at it and we shouldn’t discuss it, I would disagree with that.
Lydia: What would be your policy when it comes to crypto — do you think it’s a tool of government overreach? Would you promote someone crypto friendly at the SEC?
RFK Jr.: I will make sure that we have policies that support bitcoin and the freedom to transact and that allow individuals to manage their own bitcoin wallets, nodes, and passwords. I will allow only the narrowest controls that are necessary to prevent money laundering. I oppose central bank digital currencies because they are instruments of control and oppression, and are certain to be abused.
Lydia: Do you think your father and uncle would be Democrats today in this political environment?
RFK Jr.: I share the same values of my father and uncle. I don’t believe there are any values they fought for that I’m not also fighting for. I don’t believe there’s any daylight between us. I think the Democratic Party needs to return to its core issues and concerns — a robust middle class; racial justice and civil rights; workers’ rights; environmental protection; opposing the corporate control of regulatory agencies; opposing government corruption and demanding honest government; supporting freedom of speech, bodily autonomy, and medical freedom; and pro-peace, anti-war, and a steadfast resistance toward the military-industrial complex. All those are things I am fighting for.
Lydia: Are you aligned with their fiscal policy?
RFK Jr.: I will not raise the tax burden on Americans.
Lydia: What is this disconnect between Democrats who hate big business but somehow trust big pharmaceutical companies when it comes to the vaccine?
RFK Jr.: I think the orchestrated fear we experienced during the COVID era disabled the liberal inclination for critical thinking. Fear makes people compliant. When we are fearful, we tend to retreat into the security of undeserving authorities. That’s why Franklin Roosevelt warned us, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He saw fear as a weapon of totalitarian control and as the enemy of democratic systems and constitutional liberties.
Lydia: You’ve said the middle class suffered most during the pandemic – what are the first economic policies you’d implement to ease the burden on the middle class?
RFK Jr.: There is no way we can rebuild the middle class if we stay addicted to forever wars. We need to wind down the empire and begin investing in our home-front economy. We have 800 bases abroad right now. Each of those are service platforms for new wars. Our real strength as a nation is rebuilding our industrial base, rebuilding our industries here, and rebuilding the middle class.
Lydia: Top intelligence officials are saying the government has withheld information and evidence about unidentified aerial phenomena – that even the executive branch doesn’t know what is going on. Do you believe there is a “deep state”?
RFK Jr.: I don’t know anything more than you do. Of course, it’s an exciting possibility. If I become president, I will share that information with the American people. The idea that we may not be alone in this universe is exciting and fun and something that we all should get to understand. It’s a revelation that should be unifying for all the people on this planet. As a general principle, the fewer secrets that the government has, the more that democracy will flourish.
I share my Uncle John Kennedy’s allergy against government secrecy. The U.S. government is in possession of a billion documents classified as top secret. That is too many. Secrecy, as my uncle pointed out, is inconsistent with democracy.
